Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Katy Perry’s Roar is reprehensible.

I listen to the radio in the car*. Most of the time it’s on
a news station, but nearly as often it’s on a music station. Since there isn’t
a good college radio station with a respectable signal in town, I have to settle
for Top 40. That means that I have to wade through a lot of Blurred Lines** to get to one Get Lucky***.

Now, I could be a snob and say that the music is terrible,
over-produced and lacking substance. Actually, I just did. But that’s not
entirely true. There are some well written, well sung songs on the radio that
are damn catchy and upbeat—which is all I really expect from Top 40 radio
anyway.

But there is one song that is unforgivable on the radio.
It’s a song that only exists—so obviously only exists—to make money.

Katy Perry’s Roar.

This is pop music at its most exploitative. It is woefully
lazy, shows nothing but contempt for the audience and is insulting. It's not even
bold enough to have an original thought. If this were a songwriting class assignment,
it would fail miserably. But since it’s attached to a mega-star, it’s
supposedly acceptable.

Here are the song’s lyrics. I’ve crossed out all of the
clichés, tropes and otherwise familiar metaphors and similes that have already
been used by other, more talented performers. The non-lined out lyrics aren’t
exactly Shakespeare.

"Roar"

I used to bite my
tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a choice
I let you push me past the breaking pointI stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Get ready cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

Now I’m floating like a butterfly
Stinging like a bee I earned my stripesI went from zero, to my own hero

You get the point, and the song repeats, so I’ll spare you the r-r-r-rest.

Why should I even waste my time discussing it? Because if we
just sit there and let it play on the radio, then the people who manufactured
it will just spoon feed us more of the same. Just recycle lyrics from better
songs that actually made us feel some emotion beyond the heavy sigh of defeat that comes from worn-out resignation.

So the next time Katy Perry threatens to make you hear her
roar, don’t let her. Change the station. Because you are a champion and oh oh
oh oh oh.

*If I use the CD player, the ABS light comes on. I know
enough about cars to know that’s not supposed to happen.